Control method applied to a joystick

ABSTRACT

A joystick has a related control method to provide displayed object control function. The joystick includes a body, an image sensor and a processor. The body has a deformable bottom surface whereon a pattern is disposed. The image sensor is disposed under the body and adapted to capture a frame about the pattern. The processor is electrically connected with the image sensor and adapted to generate a displayed object control signal according to pattern variation within the frame.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/445,165 filed on Jun. 18, 2019, which is adivisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/681,415filed on 2017 Aug. 20. The above mentioned applications are included intheir entirety herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a control method applied to a joystick,and more particularly, to a control method applied to a joystick andcapable of providing displayed object control function.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A conventional mechanical joystick includes a sensor, a trackball, alever arm and a handle. A user presses the handle to move the lever arm,the lever arm can be inclined and rotated via the trackball, and thesensor detects motion of the trackball to control a cursor signal outputby the mechanical joystick. The handle is made by solid material and canbe pushed and pulled to recline the lever arm for generating the cursorsignal. While the mechanical joystick is reclined, the lever arm can berotated or slanted towards specially designated directions, and thetrackball recovers the lever arm via a spring. Therefore, theconventional mechanical joystick is operated by limited gestures due tothe designated directions, and may easily result in mechanical fatigueby long-term usage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a control method applied to a joystickand capable of providing displayed object control function for solvingabove drawbacks.

According to the claimed invention, a control method is capable ofproviding displayed object control function via a deformable bottomsurface of a joystick. An image sensor is equipped and faces thedeformable bottom surface of the joystick. The control method includesreceiving a frame captured by the image sensor about the deformablebottom surface, identifying characteristics of a plurality of dots onthe deformable bottom surface from the received frame, and generating adisplayed object control signal for determining whether the joystick ispinched or operated by other gestures according to characteristics ofthe plurality of dots within the frame. The deformable bottom surface isa part of a body having an inner space to form a hollow sunkenstructure. The image sensor is disposed inside the inner space. Theplurality of dots forms a pattern and the pattern is deformable alongwith the deformable bottom surface. The deformable bottom surface islocated on an inner of a top portion of the hollow sunken structure.

The present invention disposes the pattern on the deformable bottomsurface of the body, the pattern can be an asymmetric graffito, theplurality of colored dots or conducting dots, characteristics of thepattern can be varied in accordance with motion of the joystick, so thatthe characteristic variation can be transformed into the gesture appliedto the joystick. The joystick and the related control method in thepresent invention have no drawback of the mechanical fatigue, and thejoystick can read various gestures for preferred user experience.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a joystick according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a body of the joystick in a bottom view accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D respectively are diagrams offrames containing the dots varied by different gestures according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the body in the bottom view according to a secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the joystick according to a third embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the body of the joystick in the bottom viewaccording to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a control method for providing displayedobject control function according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a joystick 10according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is adiagram of a body 12 of the joystick 10 in a bottom view according tothe first embodiment of the present invention. The joystick 10 caninclude the body 12, an image sensor 14, a processor 16, a light source18 and an opaque cover 20. The body 12 has a deformable bottom surface22 whereon a pattern 24 is disposed. The image sensor 14 and the lightsource 18 are disposed on a circuit board 26 and located under the body12. The light source 18 is an optional element adapted to project a beamonto the deformable bottom surface 22, and the image sensor 14 cancapture at least one frame about the pattern 24. The opaque cover 20 isdisposed above the body 12 for shelter and protection, and can bepressed and/or pushed by a user for operation of the joystick 10. Theprocessor 16 is electrically connected with the image sensor 14 and thelight source 18, and can generate a displayed object control signalwhile the joystick 10 is handled according to pattern variation withinthe frame, and the displayed object can be represented as a cursordisplayed on a screen panel electrically connected with the joystick 10.Besides, the processor 16 can be optionally integrated with the imagesensor 14 as a single chip, which depends on design demand.

The body 12 can include a top portion 28 and a support portion 30connected with each other. The support portion 30 is set on the circuitboard 26 to surround the image sensor 14, the processor 16 and the lightsource 18. The top portion 28 covers upon the support portion 30 so thatthe top portion 28 and the support portion 30 can be used to prevent theimage sensor 14 from interference of environmental light, and can betouched by the user (for example: the body 12 may be pushed and pulledvia the opaque cover 20); therefore, the top portion 28 can be shifted,lowered, pinched and rotated by deformation of the support portion 30,so that hardness of the top portion 28 is preferably greater thanhardness of the support portion 30, and the support portion 30 ispreferably made by resilient material. As shown in FIG. 2, the body 12can have an inner space to form a hollow sunken structure, and thedeformable bottom surface 22 is located on an inner of the top portion28 of the hollow sunken structure. The pattern 24 is shifted, lowered,deformed and/or rotated in accordance with a movement of the body 12,and the processor 16 can analyze variation of the pattern 24 within theframes captured at different points in time to generate the displayedobject control signal.

In the first embodiment, the pattern 24 can include a plurality of dots241 forming the pattern 24, the plurality of dots 241 can be arranged inasymmetry and made by high-reflective material, and variation of thedots 241 is utilized to analyze gesture of the user applied for thejoystick 10. Please refer to FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D. FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, FIG.3C and FIG. 3D respectively are diagrams of frames containing the dots241 varied by different gestures according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown in FIG. 3A, the dots 241 are shifted ata specific direction, which means the joystick 10 is pushed or pulledtoward the specific direction accordingly. As shown in FIG. 3B,dimensions of the dots 241 are enlarged, which means the joystick 10 ispressed and lowered relative to the circuit board 26; accordingly, thejoystick 10 may be determined as being lifted while the dots 241 arereduced. As shown in FIG. 3C, the dots 241 are twisted to representrotation of the joystick 10; and as shown in FIG. 3D, the dots 241 arenarrowed and widened to represent that the joystick 10 can be pinched.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram of the body 12 inthe bottom view according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention. The body 12 of the joystick 10 can have a pattern 24′designed as an asymmetric form, rather than the plurality of dots. Thepattern 24′ can be the high-reflective material coated on the topportion 28 of the body 12. The pattern 24′ can be shifted, scaled,rotated and/or deformed while the body 12 is handled by the user, suchlike the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D, an outsidecontour of the dots can be viewed as the pattern 24′, and the outsidecontour must be asymmetric to accurately identify reversed motion of thebody 12. The image sensor 14 captures one or some frames containingvariation of the pattern 24′, and the processor 16 analyzes the framesto generate the displayed object control signal in accordance with theuser's gesture.

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 is a diagram of the joystick10′ according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 isa diagram of the body 12′ of the joystick 10′ in the bottom viewaccording to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the thirdembodiment, elements having the same numeral as ones of the foresaidembodiments have the same structures and functions, and a detaileddescription is omitted herein for simplicity. The body 12′ has thedeformable bottom surface 22 whereon a plurality of conducting dots 32is disposed. The body 12′ can be the hollow sunken structure mainlycomposed of the top portion 28 and the support portion 30. The joystick10′ includes a capacitive sensor 34 and a processor 36 disposed underthe body 12′ and electrically connected each other, and further includesa cover 38 disposed above the body 12′ for shelter and being the handle.Optical detection technology is not used in the joystick 10′, so thecover 38 can be made by transparent material or opaque material.

In the third embodiment, the plurality of conducting dots 32 is arrangedin asymmetry and electrified by an external power supply (not shown inthe figures). While the joystick 10′ is handled by the user to input thegesture, the body 12′ is moved and/or deformed, an inductive capacitancevalue of each conducting dot 32 may be varied accordingly, thecapacitive sensor 34 can acquire one or some frames after detection ofthe plurality of conducting dots 32, and each pixel of the frame can berepresented as the inductive capacitance value of the related conductingdot 32; the conducting dot 32 may be optionally electrified anddetection efficiency of the capacitive sensor 34 can increasedadaptively for preferred performance. Thus, the processor 36 can analyzeone or some frames to get variation of the inductive capacitance valueabout the plurality of conducting dots 32, so as to generate thedisplayed object control signal in accordance with the user's gesture.

Please refer to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a control method forproviding displayed object control function via the optical detection orcapacitance detection technique according to the embodiment of thepresent invention. The following statement is an example of the firstembodiment, and certainly the control method illustrated in FIG. 7 canbe suitable for the joystick 10 and 10′ shown in FIGS. 1-6. First, step700 is executed to acquire one or some frames about the deformablebottom surface 22 by the image sensor 14 (or the capacitive sensor 34 isdriven to capture the frame containing the conducting dots 32). Whilethe joystick 10 is handled, characteristic of the dots 241 are varied tobehave change of the pattern 24 and the deformable bottom surface 22.The said characteristic can be a value of the related pixel within theframe, and steps 702 and 704 are executed to identify the characteristicof the dots 241 for ascertaining operation of the joystick 10, and togenerate the displayed object control signal according to thecharacteristics of the dots 241.

During operation of the joystick 10, the frames is capturedcontinuously, and the characteristics may represent a variation ofdifference between different frames or represent positions of images ofthe plurality of dots 241 in one frame. The processor 16 can compare thecharacteristics between adjacent frames; for example, the processor 16compares the characteristics of the dots 241 between the frame and aprevious frame or between the frame and a next frame, so as toimmediately compute the displayed object control signal. Further, theprocessor 16 may compare the characteristics between the frame and apreset frame, and the preset frame is defined as a captured image aboutthe deformable bottom surface 22 in the beginning, so the differencebetween the frame and the preset frame is computed to avoid invaliddetection because of mechanical fatigue.

In addition, the control method can provide warning function to remindthe user of replacing the damaged joystick 10. As shown in FIG. 7, steps706 and 708 are optionally executed to set a baseline when the pluralityof dots 241 remains stable in a predetermined number of frames, and togenerate a caution of changing the joystick 10 when positions of theplurality of dots 241 in the current frame exceeds a predetermined area.The said baseline is a threshold utilized to check whether the joystick10 is resiliently fatigued. The baseline can be a curve or a contour,and is defined in the beginning of the control method (before themechanical fatigue is generated). Position of the plurality of dots 241should be located inside the predetermined area formed by the baseline,the dots 241 exceeding the predetermined area means the mechanicalfatigue being generated, so that the control method outputs the cautionto remind replacement of the joystick 10.

The present invention disposes the pattern on the deformable bottomsurface of the body, the pattern can be an asymmetric graffito, theplurality of colored dots or conducting dots, characteristics of thepattern can be varied in accordance with motion of the joystick, so thatthe characteristic variation can be transformed into the gesture appliedto the joystick. The joystick and the related control method in thepresent invention have no drawback of the mechanical fatigue, and thejoystick can read various gestures for preferred user experience.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A control method capable of providing displayedobject control function via a deformable bottom surface of a joystick,wherein an image sensor is equipped facing the deformable bottom surfaceof the joystick, the control method comprising: receiving a framecaptured by the image sensor about the deformable bottom surface;identifying characteristics of a plurality of dots on the deformablebottom surface from the received frame; and generating a displayedobject control signal for determining whether the joystick is pinchedaccording to characteristics of the plurality of dots within the frame,wherein the deformable bottom surface where the dots are formed on isdeformed due to the pinching; wherein the deformable bottom surface is apart of a body having an inner space to form a hollow sunken structure,the image sensor is disposed inside the inner space, the plurality ofdots forms a pattern and the pattern is deformable along with thedeformable bottom surface, and the deformable bottom surface is locatedon an inner of a top portion of the hollow sunken structure.
 2. Thecontrol method of claim 1, wherein the characteristics represents avariation of difference between the received frame and a next frame, orthe received frame and a previous frame.
 3. The control method of claim1, wherein the characteristics represents a variation of differencebetween the received frame and a preset frame.
 4. The control method ofclaim 1, wherein the characteristics represents positions of images ofthe plurality of dots in the received frame.
 5. The control method ofclaim 4, wherein the plurality of dots is arranged in asymmetry, and thecharacteristics represents position variation of the plurality of dots.6. The control method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of dots isconducting dots electrified by an external power supply, and thecharacteristics variation represents variation of an inductivecapacitance value of each conducting dot.
 7. The control method of claim1, wherein the displayed object control signal is a cursor controlsignal.
 8. The control method of claim 1, wherein the joystick comprisesa light source disposed under the body and adapted to project a beamonto the deformable bottom surface.